Alumni & parents

Dolphin and Sea Turtle Get Along

By Briana Stockdale

Dolphin is busy searching for food when Sea Turtle comes by. Upon seeing Dolphin and hearing his squeaks Sea Turtle becomes curious and starts asking questions. While it starts out seeming that these two are different they end up finding a commonality.

Dolphin: Eeeek eeek eeek!

Sea Turtle: What are you doing?

Dolphin: I’m using my voice to find some fish for dinner. Don’t you do that too?

Sea Turtle: No, I don’t have to. Is that all you use that squeak for?

Dolphin: No I use it to communicate with my pod and to work around obstacles.

Sea Turtle: That’s interesting.

Dolphin: Yeah, I am pretty neat. You said you don’t have to use your voice to find fish. How do you catch your dinner?

Sea Turtle: Hahaha! That’s funny!

Dolphin: Glad you think so.

Sea Turtle: (clears throat) Sorry. What I mean is, I don’t eat fish. I eat sea grasses and they are not that hard to find.

Dolphin: It’s weird that you eat grass.

Sea Turtle: What?! Well I think it’s weird that you eat fish! Now don’t you feel bad?

Dolphin: No, not really. Why are you green?

Sea Turtle: It’s the grass.

Dolphin: Hmm… do all turtles eat grass?

Sea Turtles: No, some of my cousins prefer jellyfish and other soft bellied animals and other cousins prefer crabs and clams.

Dolphin: I thought you guys were all the same?

Sea Turtle: Are all dolphins the same?

Dolphin: No! That’s a silly question!

Sea Turtle: Well then your question is just as silly. How many types of dolphins are there anyways?

Dolphin: There are lots, I’m a bottlenose, which is the best, but there are other kinds like the black dolphin, Commerson’s dolphin, and the spotted dolphin. All together there are 32 different kinds of dolphins.

Sea Turtle: Wow! 32 is a big number! Well, like you dolphins, there are different types of sea turtles, seven to be exact. I’m a green turtle, but there are leatherbacks, loggerheads, hawksbills, Kemp’s ridley, Olive ridley, and flatbacks.

Dolphin: Wow! I didn’t know there were that many different kinds of turtles. How come I haven’t seen that many of you?

Sea Turtle: Most of us are endangered because of pollution, accidental capture, coastal development, and over fishing. A lot of us have lost our homes.

Dolphin: I guess we have some things in common. We dolphins are endangered too.

Sea Turtle: It’s not the same ocean our ancestors swam.

Dolphin: You can say that again.

Sea Turtle: There was a time when things were balanced, everyone got what they needed, but now it seems that there are those who want more. I wonder why?

Dolphin: Yeah! I mean, it only takes a few fish to keep the hunger pains away. It’s like people want more, but what for?

Sea Turtle: Beats me!

Dolphin: Well I hope they get things figured out up there, because pretty soon our homes will be destroyed and we won’t make it.

Sea Turtle: I wonder if there’s anyone up there fighting for us. I hope there is. I don’t want to disappear. I want people to know about sea turtles.

Dolphin: Yeah. There’s a lot people could learn from dolphins! We’re pretty smart you know.

Sea Turtle: I think we can both agree we have a lot to offer the world.